JEDDAH, 7 September 2007 — Moves by police to forcefully evacuate 3,000 single expatriates living in around 500 buildings in the Al-Bukharia District of Taif has caused local owners of buildings huge financial losses.
Police say that single expatriates have been asked to move out because of municipality regulations prohibiting singles from living in districts containing families.
“Singles are not allowed to live in family districts,” said Turki Al-Shahry, spokesman for Taif police, outlining the reason for the evacuations.
The income of over 1,000 local Saudis has been directly affected by the closures, which also include 150 shops and restaurants.
“Al-Bukharia is one of the oldest districts of Taif and is heavily populated. Most of the people who live here are single expatriates of different nationalities. After the authorities emptied the area, we have lost our source of income,” said Amin Abdul Karim Al-Gilani.
“I’ve lived in this district for 40 years. We don’t like the illegal things that happen here and we do inform the police whenever a violation is noted. Of course, we appreciate the efforts of the authorities in making the place secure,” he added.
Al-Gilani owns property in the area. “The residents I had were all legal. Whenever we sign a contract, we make four copies. One for the owner, one for the tenant, one for the real estate office and one for the police,” he said.
Muhammad Al-Gyaad said, “These buildings that are now empty were built for single people. The rooms are very small and narrow. They’re unsuitable for families. We’ve been left in a difficult situation. We’ve complained because it’s hurting our pockets.”
Abdul Rahim Al-Damlouk said, “I used to spend on my family from the rent of three rooms and a restaurant that I own. I was leasing them to legal single expatriates. Now that they’ve gone, I don’t have a source of living. I’ve asked the authorities to have mercy on us and make things as it was before. They should punish criminals and not ordinary hardworking people.”
Khalid Khedr Al-Zahrani said, “I was assigned after my father’s death to manage the inheritance of my eight unemployed brothers, a sick sister and my mother. I invested money in this district to generate some money. I’m left high and dry now.”
Ismail Muhammad Al-Atar said, “We’ve lived here for 50 years. We survive by leasing our rooms to single expatriates. We’ve never seen such a thing before. All areas have both good and bad people. It’s unfair to punish both.”
